Brooklyn's Lindsay Park Co-op Board Responds to Critics' Charges

Aug. 27, 2014 — Following corruption charges last week by nearly 900 residents of the Brooklyn Mitchell-Lama co-op Lindsay Park Housing, the local Community Board chair and two New York City Council members, the co-op board issued a statement denying those claims. Critics allege the board exploits "general proxies," which don't name a candidate, rather directed proxies, which name a specific candidate, in order to keep board members in power.

According to DNAInfo.com, the board says its election practices are fair and monitored by an independent third party approved by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and that the dissident Shareholders for the Betterment of Lindsay Park is "a group of relatively uninformed and disappointed tenant-shareholders, who have not been able to have members of their group elected to the Lindsay Park Board and who oppose needed maintenance increases at Lindsay Park." The board said directed proxies are "restrictive" to the democratic process and that there was "no basis" to "unsubstantiated charges of 'corruption.'"

DNAInfo said the board is is verifying signatures on the group's petition to change the method of proxy voting, and will hire an election company to monitor the special meeting that per the co-op's bylaws must be held within 10 to 40 days of the petition's submission.